Video Blasts Obama's Commitment to Israel

The Emergency Committee for Israel has come out with a video blasting Obama’s commitment to ensuring the security of the State of Israel.

By Rachel Hirshfeld

First Publish: 3/4/2012, 8:41 PM

The Emergency Committee for Israel (ECI), which has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on public campaigns prior to the upcoming U.S. presidential elections and pivotal AIPAC policy conference, has come out with a new video blasting President Obama’s commitment to ensuring the safety and security of the State of Israel.

The 30-minute video entitled “Daylight: The Story of Obama and Israel,” claims that while Obama maintained a “pro-Israel” platform in the 2008 presidential elections, three years later, supporters of Israel not only question his commitment, but many have also alleged that he has “done more to de-legitimize and undermine Israel’s position in the world than any other president."

While President Obama has asserted that “Israel’s security is sacrosanct,” conservative journalist Lee Smith is shown saying that Obama “didn't quite have a full grasp of what the full region looks like... This is not how you treat an ally."

In an interview in The Atlantic over the weekend, Obama expressed frustration with the attacks coming from conservative groups, like ECI, claiming he is not pro-Israel.

"Every single commitment I have made to the state of Israel and its security, I have kept," Obama said. "Why is it that despite me never failing to support Israel on every single problem that they've had over the last three years, that there are still questions about that?"

Executive Director of ECI Noah Pollak affirmed, "We think this movie will set the record straight, and remind pro-Israel Americans of the facts of this administration's failure to stand with Israel at some critical moments."

On Thursday the ECI also took out a full page ad in the New York Times urging readers to call the organizations and philanthropies supporting the liberal advocacy organizations of Media Matters and the Center for American Progress, both of which has been charged with anti-Israel, and often anti-Semitic rhetoric.

At the same time, the dovish left leaning group JStreet has come out with a video claiming that the State of Israel cannot be destroyed and that Iranian nuclear capabilities do not pose an existential threat to Israel.

Yet, the ECI seeks to remind the viewing public that as Israel faces threats from the Iranian nuclear program, uprisings in Syria, the rise of Islamic extremism in Turkey and Egypt, and terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hizbullah, “the friendship of the U.S. president has never been more important.”

With the forthcoming presidential elections and Obama hoping to regain Jewish trust by affirming his commitment to Israel’s security at the AIPAC policy conference, the ECI also calls on the pro-Israel lobby to remember the inherent disconnect between Obama’s promises and administrative policies.